Electric Picnic
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| Electric Picnic | |
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| Location(s) | Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, County Laois, Republic of Ireland |
| Years active | 2004 - present |
| Date(s) | First weekend of September |
| Genre(s) | Indie/alternative, dance |
| Website | www.electricpicnic.ie |
Electric Picnic is an annual music festival which has been staged since 2004 in Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, County Laois in the Republic of Ireland. Many locals have expressed their distaste at some of the visiting musicians lack of geographical awareness.[citation needed] Stradbally is not actually located in Dublin, as is referred to on some of the artists' websites, and in some areas of the British and American music press. It is in fact 50 miles/80 kms from the capital city.
Electric Picnic began as a one-day event in 2004, but grew to a weekend-long festival within a year, and became a three day affair in 2006. It is organised by Pod concerts and Aiken promotions. It is rapidly gaining ground on Oxegen as the most popular Irish music festival with the 2006 festival selling out in quicker time than any other year. The eclectic line-up of the festival has earned it the reputation of being an alternative to the more mainstream festivals in Ireland and enjoys a slightly older patronage than the popular Oxegen festival held yearly in Ireland by MCD Productions.
The festival also incorporates other attractions such as a 24-hour cinema tent, the Body and Soul arena (offering an ambient lounge with beanbags, massages and tarot card readings), the International Comedy Tent (curated by Des Bishop) and a silent disco.
The festival is broadcast live on the RTÉ 2fm website, presented by DJs Dan Hegarty, Damien McCaul and Cormac Battle.
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[edit] Early Years
- The following are some of the headline acts from the early years of the festival:
[edit] 2004
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[edit] 2005
[edit] 2006 festival
In 2006 the festival gained momentum, with all 30,000 tickets selling out more than 7 weeks in advance, despite a less well received line-up than 2005. The event took place on the weekend of September 1 - September 3, 2006. Artists who performed included Sparks, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx, Rufus Wainwright, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gary Numan, Francois Kevorkian, Groove Armada, Damien Rice and The Frames.
[edit] 2007 festival
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This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
Electric Picnic 2007 will once again be a three day event and will run from from 31 August until 2 September. The festival will maintain its current size of 32,500 festival goers and will keep all the same elements plus some new additions. "Early-bird" tickets for the 2007 festival went on sale between Monday 11 December 2006, and Saturday 24 February 2007. They cost €199, taking into account the VAT that must now be paid on all outdoor events. Full price tickets will go onsale on the 3rd March at a price of €220.[1] Acts will be officially announced on Monday 2nd March.
The Irish Times has unofficially announced acts in a piece on the festival: "As for the acts already in the bag, Reynolds is staying schtum until next week, but On the Record has done some sleuthing. Expect Björk, LCD Soundsystem, The Stooges, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Jarvis Cocker, The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Wilco, Primal Scream, Peter, Björn and John, The Go! Team and MIA to be revealed as Picnic-goers on Monday evening."[2]
